Small compost trial.

[Mr. Jolly]

how comes they look so stretched?

They're sativas.

[oldtimer1]

A small update sorry I’m a bit busy for keeping up with this, I only look at them every 5 or 6 days to check the lamp height and if watering is needed the rest of the time they just get on with it.

I said I would show it as it happens. Just took these snaps a few mins ago, sorry about the quality, the camera is old and not good in low light conditions.

Today is day 11 on 12/12, the pure sats are now about 5 ft tall, all is pretty good at the moment, I did see a little leaf spot at the bottom of one plant a few dayd back, I sprayed all with an inoculant, I will see if this holds it. They are due for side shooting again this coming week, I will check if the leaf spot has been held then and stick up the inner plants.

All the plants are pretty even, in fact about what I would expect if they were all in one type of compost, the carrs does hold water a little longer, I can see no difference in heights or health, no signs of deficiencies, I will start feeding next water as a matter of course.

The plants have grown so much I can't get back far enough to get everything in, so I'll show it in several pics to give you an idea.

mid bottom:-

mid top:-

Finally this pic is a little indica dom, just to the side inside the curtain for scraglor it seems to be getting enough light :-

[Guest leepy]

hi OT1 iv just been reading this thread and now im very concerned about the compost that im useing cos i never put it though a sive an there was big lumps in it i broke these up there was also half a of a budwizer can compacted in there two

[oldtimer1]

hi OT1 iv just been reading this thread and now im very concerned about the compost that im useing cos i never put it though a sive an there was big lumps in it i broke these up there was also half a of a budwizer can compacted in there two

Sieving is just my tip for fluffing the compost back up to get air in it and excluding large lumps and stones. I use half and inch grid for potting and a quarter inch for seed and cuttings. I think from personal experience this gives more even growing conditions. Most people don’t bother, one friend thinks I’m being totally anal doing it. But then again I get good results time after time and he does not. I would not worry about it, just bear it in mind to give it a try in future.

What make of compost was the can in?

[Guest leepy]

hi OT1 it was called SPECIALIST COMPOST growth stage 3 for specimen plants i got it from B&Q i thought it would be good stuff cos it wasnt as cheap as the others but hey im new to compost i just wish that id read up on it a bit b4 doing it thanks OT1 leepy

[Gmaninnirvana]

Nice work ot1. I have used erin multi-purpose with sucess but will watch your progress. B)

[oldtimer1]

A quick note to say after we upgraded the IPB software, my old mac is no longer totally compatible with with the board and I can no longer upload pictures.

The grow is now about a week or so off being ready to start harvesting, I’ll write up a full harvest report once the crop is dry and report on how the bud smokes from each compost, and how yield varies from previous averages and how each compost has performed.

[Felix Dzerzhinsky]

Thanks for your time and effort OT

I for one will be looking forward to your harvest report and will be interested to see how the Carrs compares to the others.

Thanks,

Felix.

[Bish]

The grow is now about a week or so off being ready to start harvesting, I’ll write up a full harvest report once the crop is dry and report on how the bud smokes from each compost, and how yield varies from previous averages and how each compost has performed.

Look forward to reading your reports Ot.

[djay]

Me two would be nice to be able to buy something local like compost instead of having to send for bags of this guanokalong stuff delivery is well expensive

[Nausicca]

Keeping this on the front page so i dont have to look for it.

[Peter Petrelli]

Hi OT1 thanks for a very imformative thread, I'm getting into compost myself and have been fortunate enough to find a wealth of information here at uk420 teeheee..... saved me a lot of time having these compost trials too very good of you guys (OT1, Pro lib et al) to invest your time in uncovering these things for the rest of us.

Do you have any update as to which one you rated the best in terms of overall use (rooting, veg speed, taste & yield). I am very interested to find out... was going to drop the £12 per 50L on all-mix till I read a few of these comparison threads.

Thanks again & have a great day!

[oldtimer1]

Hi OT1 thanks for a very imformative thread, I'm getting into compost myself and have been fortunate enough to find a wealth of information here at uk420 teeheee..... saved me a lot of time having these compost trials too very good of you guys (OT1, Pro lib et al) to invest your time in uncovering these things for the rest of us.

Do you have any update as to which one you rated the best in terms of overall use (rooting, veg speed, taste & yield). I am very interested to find out... was going to drop the £12 per 50L on all-mix till I read a few of these comparison threads.

Thanks again & have a great day!

The crop is drying at the moment, as a comment don't buy the genie compost.

[smeagol]

loooking forwards to end analysis Ot ...

[oldtimer1]

Ok the composts, first general comments, Genie holds the least water and Carrs the most With JAB +JI somewhere in the middle. This makes watering sog on capillary matting with mixed pots of compost types somewhat more difficult.

General comments about the composts.

Carrs seems to hold water for up to 7 or 8 days, IMHO this compost lacks crumb structure making its air holding capability less than a good compost should be, it compresses and settles over a long period as well. Rooting out in this compost was the worst of the group. Another member said his plants needed feeding early in Carrs, I suspect this was lack of sufficient root mass not that the compost is short of nutrients. In fact most of the plants in this compost retained leaves in good health right down to the bottom of the plants to harvest time. It takes care to grow really good plants in this compost, although I suppose it would be easier with all the plants being in the same compost.

The plants in Genie compost needed watering every 3 to 4 days, this compost has the most open crumb structure of the group, the plants in Genie up to 3 weeks into flower looked the greenest and most healthy in the group. Between 4 and 5 weeks flowering, sun leaves started yellowing from the bottom up, it was obvious that the compost had almost totally run out of base nutrients. I could have compensated by upping the liquid feeding to compensate, I did not, I kept the feed the same for all 3 composts. By week 9/10 flowering all the sun leaves from the base to the top bud had yellowed but the small bud leaves were still green. This compost would probably perform quite well using the sort of fertiliser program recommended for lightmix. It produced the largest root mass in the group.

The JAB +JI performed quite well through the grow maintaining its leaves quite well until the last two weeks flowering, when the lower sun leaves started to loose vitality so it has reasonable fertiliser reserves. Watering was needed every 5 days or so, all in all an easy compost to use.

Ok yield The JAB +JI had it by a small margin, The Carrs very close producing 99.3% and Genie a long way back to 56.7%

The Carrs on all varieties had the most dense buds and trichome covering as well as the best aroma, Carrs also came top in the smoke tests by a fair margin and was picked as the nicest all round time and again by testers.

JAB + JI had a slightly looser bud structure and less trichome covering, Looking at the buds side by side with Carrs an ounce of each, it looked like you had more with the JAB + JI. The smoke was nice but not as smooth as the Carrs and the hit not as good.

The Genie buds were the least dense by a long margin, a little more leafy, the smoke the least satisfying with a tinge of chlorophyll and slight bitterness to the taste. Probably a lot better than anything you can buy, but its really not for me.

In conclusion I can’t recommend the Genie compost. For all round ease of use the JAB +JI came top, but for connoisseur bud quality Carrs was way the best of the group.

I’m about to start a new grow, as I still have enough Carrs and Genie compost in hand to fill the room, I’m going to tinker a little.

I am going to try mixing some Genie to the carrs to see if it will improve drainage and crumb structure. I think about 4 to 1, Carrs to Genie will be about right, I’ll let you know how it went in the new year.